


Death

by aravenwood



Series: Febuwhump '19 [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Angst, Gen, Presumed Dead, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 23:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17671871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood
Summary: Tony had always expected the end of the world to come with a bang or a pop, or at least a fizzle.Written for the prompt "major character death".





	Death

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, ok, ok! I see the title and I see the prompt and I see the tags and all I can say is...bear with me.

Tony had always expected the end of the world to come with a bang or a pop, or at least a fizzle. He’d expected more than a grunt and a groan, and he wasn’t expecting it to happen nearly as slowly – but six months after the first bite victims showed signs of decay without death, regression in their mental capacities and finally a lust for the living flesh, they were just calling it the end.

Six months of death and rebirth and it was the power finally going out which terrified people the most. What a world they lived in, Tony thought as he mourned the loss of JARVIS. The transformers were down and even clean energy was gone. That was a real gut punch, almost a bigger loss than anything else in the last six months.

No, that wasn’t true. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bruce. Bruce was the biggest loss, mostly because of how unexpected it was. after years of wanting to die and having that taken from him, it finally happened when he actually wanted to live. It was a cruel fate, but even being bitten as the Hulk couldn’t save him.

The others were surviving at least. It was amazing that the ones who were most human, most fragile and most susceptible to the virus were the ones who were thriving; finally able to truly demonstrate how powerful they were when the most powerful being on Earth was brought to its knees. Clint and Natasha were the biggest heroes of them all, even more than the super soldier himself, who’d been bitten a month back and was starting to show signs of a decline.

Tony didn’t know how much more he could take, how much more anyone could take. That was the real reason he fought, amongst people he was suddenly no more powerful than, people he could no longer protect but could only assist. They fought side by side now, no suit left to let him fly high above their heads. They faced the horde together. One species united to save the world. If there were any poets left, they’d be having a field day.

The zombies kept coming, wave after wave after wave. Tony could feel himself tiring, the axe in his hands suddenly twice as heavy and three times as large. He kept swinging though, kept killing every single zombie who tried to touch him.

Among the dull, lifeless faces, one suddenly stopped him in his tracks. The axe paused mid-swing as a lone figure shuffled his way.

“No,” he whispered. “Bruce.”  
Bruce was pale and thin, his clothes torn and covered in blood. His gait was like every other zombie; slow and uneven, like he could fall at any moment. Not Bruce, anyone but him. Tony couldn’t kill his best friend.

But Bruce looked up, and there was life in his eyes, a smile on his face. He looked…alive.

“Tony,” he greeted softly. None of the zombies came near him, they parted like the Red Sea around him, which was fitting because Tony truly felt like he was witnessing a miracle.

“Bruce,” he choked out, then threw himself at Bruce. Bruce who was alive and human, everything he shouldn’t be. “How?” Tony didn’t care how badly his voice was cracking.

“The Hulk,” Bruce said simply. “He changed. He was one of them, but then he wasn’t. He fixed himself and let me out. He…Tony, I think he can save the world.”

Tony grinned. Of course, that was just like Bruce. Gone one minute and saving the world the next.

Some things never changed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
